The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 05, 2012
Filed:
Dec. 21, 2011
Dan S. Reznik, New York, NY (US);
Adam D. Azarchs, Pasadena, CA (US);
Ambrus Csaszar, Pasadena, CA (US);
Matthew B. Hartshorn, Pasadena, CA (US);
Dan S. Reznik, New York, NY (US);
Adam D. Azarchs, Pasadena, CA (US);
Ambrus Csaszar, Pasadena, CA (US);
Matthew B. Hartshorn, Pasadena, CA (US);
Esolar, Inc., Pasadena, CA (US);
Abstract
A suntracking system for a central receiver solar power plant includes a heliostat field for reflecting sunlight to a receiver, cameras directed toward at least a subset of the heliostats, and a controller. The cameras are configured to produce images of sunlight reflected from multiple heliostats. The heliostats include a mirrored surface having a settable orientation and have a geometry modeled by a set of parameters. A method of estimating heliostat parameters for open-loop suntracking includes acquiring pointing samples by setting the direction of reflection of the heliostats and detecting concurrent sunlight reflections into the cameras. The method uses the acquired pointing samples and surveyed locations of the cameras to estimate the heliostat parameters. The method accurately maintains the sun's reflection directed toward the receiver open-loop utilizing the estimated tracking parameters.